Last Laugh
by MudbloodMusings
Summary: And she would have smiled, had he been there. But he was not, and so she cried. The aftermath of the war, when Angelina finds Fred's body. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter is not mine, as much as I wish otherwise.

**A/N:** I cried while I wrote this. ): But maybe it's just me.

There was pain everywhere, but she wouldn't quit. She passed many families, broken, torn apart by the war, as she ran frantically, searching for him.

_"It will be okay, Angelina," he had told her._

_"Please," she had begged him, "Please don't fight. Stay back."_

_"You know I can't do that."_

_"Fred, I –"_

_"You're fighting, aren't you? They need us both, Ange…"_

_"I know. I just..."_

_"You just…?" he had repeated, an eyebrow quirked up, a half smile on his face._

_"I love you, Fred Weasley."_

_"I love you, Angelina Johnson," he said in mock formal tones._

_"Can't you ever be serious?!" she had exclaimed, but she wasn't angry. Not one bit…_

She ran further, as tears streamed down her face. She wiped them away impatiently, running past Professor Lupin and Tonks, and… maybe Colin Creevey.

Everything was a blur, and she couldn't recognize anyone. The dead and the mourning…

Her heart, which had been thudding loudly against her eardrums, seemed to suddenly stop. Just ahead, she saw the Weasley family, huddled around what was clearly a body.

She stopped in her tracks, staring. George was closest. Even from this distance, she could see the loss in his eyes, the complete lifelessness. Ginny and her mother were weeping; Ron looked tired and sad, while Harry Potter stood near by, looking confused and disbelieving.

_But where was Fred?_

It was a scene of utter hopelessness, and Angelina wanted to comfort each and every one of them. But her legs were suddenly incapable of moving, as she scanned the family once more.

Arthur Weasley, Percy, Charlie, Bill… familiar faces marred with sorrow…

_Fred?_

The truth began to wash over her slowly, but she refused to think it, to voice it out loud. Never…

Hermione, who had been blocking Angelina's view moved away, and she had a clear view of the body…the body that had once been Fred's.

Her breath caught in her throat, as she broke into sobs. She gasped unnaturally, unable to absorb that Fred… that he was…

_Dead…_

"No…" she moaned quietly to herself, "Fred… _No…_"

She began to walk, taking every step with tremendous effort, towards him. Her breathing did not come easily, as she walked, eyes fixed upon her goal, tears streaming down her face.

She felt herself breaking, something was tearing inside her and suddenly she couldn't carry herself anymore. She let herself drop on her knees at his side, her body going into convulsions as she forced her eyes to look up at his face.

His hair was untamed, framing his face. His eyes were open, but there was no life in them. Fred's mouth was half open, his lips curved.

He had died laughing.

Angelina's frame shook violently as someone spoke words to her, but the comfort was lost. Wasted, because she could never feel okay again…

_"Don't be like that, Ange…"_ he would have said, _"Give me a smile, come on now…"_

And she would have smiled, had he been there. But he was not, and so she cried.

_"Please…Smile for me…"_ the faint voice in her head said.

"But you're gone!" she moaned loudly, as his family stared at her pityingly.

_"I'm right here…"_

"Where?" she asked slowly, and then anger took her over, "Where are you?!"

_"I'll always be here, with you."_

She shook her head, frustrated, feeling as though happiness, let alone smiling, was something she could never feel again.

_"Just one smile."_

She tried to block out the words that her mind was inventing, throwing herself into the depression that was overcoming her.

_"For me…"_

Her vision was blurred because of the tears that continued to flow, and she had never felt less like smiling but slowly, cautiously, she felt the corners of her lips turn upwards.

_"Thank you"_

"I love you, Fred Weasley," she said for the second time in her life, crying freely and laughing hysterically at the same time.

She waited for him to say it back to her, and when his answer never came, she clutched desperately at his palm, holding it close to herself, willing his fingers to curve themselves around her own.

She stayed that way for a long time, with him, and even his family began to depart, all the while talking of the funeral.

But she never left his side, waiting. Waiting to hear the echo of his voice speak the words she needed to hear a last time…

_"I love you, Angelina Johnson."_

**A/N:** Please review. I'm feeling really emotional right now, and a nice detailed review would definitely cheer me up…!


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